


Bloody Brain Freeze

by Kamiccola



Series: Original nature spirit mythology in ROTG universe [2]
Category: Guardians of Childhood - William Joyce, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Blood, Existential Crisis, Gen, My First Fanfic, Nature Magic, Original Character(s), Post-Canon, Seasonal Spirits and Guardians, Souled Vampire(s), Supernatural Elements, Vampires, Warlocks, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-07 11:26:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16853146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamiccola/pseuds/Kamiccola
Summary: Winter spirits don’t take well to being bitten by vampires.Jack Frost is a winter spirit with an existential crisis. Claire is a lonely vampire trying to escape her fate. Will she guide him to save his humanity or will both of them lose it?





	1. Don't mind the strange

**Author's Note:**

> The story takes place about 15 years after Rise of the Guardians events.
> 
> Rated T just in case. Expect mentions of blood. There are vampires in this story after all. I tend to keep my language clean but if it suits a character better, I will not censor it.
> 
> I do not own Rise of the Guardians.
> 
> I own my original characters: Claire, Oriol, Mist and Adam and the plot of this story.
> 
> ~~~  
> 

"You can stop calling me Jack," the young Guardian said to them both. "I am Winter. Nothing more."

* * *

_A week earlier:_

Jamie was stir crazy. He'd been studying the whole morning and his brain was fried. He had to get out. As soon as he stepped outside, he felt winter in the air. It stung his nose and chilled his lungs with cold freshness. It was late autumn and it had been rather mild so far but today the air was brisk. He pocketed his hands into his jacket and continued walking.

As he got to the park, a strange sight met him. One tree was completely frosted over and the one next to it was not. While most people would look at that sight with a frown wondering what could have caused such an anomaly, Jamie's face lit up immediately.

"Jack is here."

He immediately started looking for more clues. There it was again. A frozen bench. He kept looking. A frozen light pole on his left. He looked up. The wire hanging from it was frosted over from that point up until the next pole only. He looked to the right and smiled seeing that the frost continued from the wires on the right side. He could imagine Jack lightly jumping from one to the other. He'd seen him do it many times before and never tired of it. He loved watching Jack do his thing.

After following the frozen trail he finally found the winter spirit sitting in a tree. He came closer to observe. Jack scrunched his brows in concentration and gently tapped a yellow leaf with his staff. The leaf froze on the spot and Jack moved on to the next one. There were still a lot of leaves left on this tree and he'd gotten through about a quarter of them freezing them one at a time.

Jamie tilted his head and curiously observed the strange scene thinking, 'What are you doing, Jack?'

Jack didn't notice him but continued this exercise. As he froze each individual leaf he appeared to get more frustrated. Jamie gasped. Not frustrated. Angry. It wasn't concentration that he saw on Jack's face before. As a confirmation to his thought, the temperature suddenly dropped a few degrees, the wind quieted down completely and birds from the nearby tree flew away in fright. Jamie knew what was coming. He quickly turned away, threw his hood on, jammed his hands in his pockets and braced himself.

Jack let out an angry scream and it was as if a freezing bomb went off. Jamie stumbled from the impact and felt a chill penetrate his bones. He immediately started to shiver and reluctantly turned back to the winter spirit.

The frozen tree no longer had any leaves left. "What did that tree d-d-d-do to you anyway?" he asked, his teeth chattering.

Jack snapped his head to him hearing his friend's voice. "Jamie!" he exclaimed leaping from the tree and gently landing next to him. "I'm so sorry. I thought there was no one here. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Jamie answered, "b-b-but I think I better get back in-n-n-nside."

Jack didn't waste time but grabbed Jamie and flew him over to his house.

"Get in. Let's t-t-talk," Jamie invited.

As soon as Jamie came in, he kicked his shoes off and jumped in his bed still wearing his jacket quickly wrapping himself up in the cover.

Jack stood there fidgeting nervously, not knowing what to do. Finally, he found another blanket, threw it on his friend and quickly jumped to the other side of the room to keep his coldness away.

That haunting memory flashed before him. 'Jack. I can't feel my hands.' Oh, the horror of that day. Jamie was still a little kid. They were having so much fun doing snowball target practice, he didn't notice how much time had passed. And then Jamie looked up at him with these scared eyes holding his wet gloves up. He nearly got a frostbite. Jack has been more careful with all kids since then checking if they were dressed properly and limiting play time. He thought he had a grip on his powers by now. Yeah. Losing control and releasing a burst of his icy power in the middle of a populated area was a big no-no. 'Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!' he scolded himself.

Jamie was finally warming up under the covers. He observed Jack. He wasn't his usual fun-loving spirit today and Jamie had a bad feeling about this. Jack in this mood was bad news. Not only it meant an early winter but a very cold one. Plus, he was worried about his friend. 

It's strange to be friends with the Spirit of Winter. The issues you encounter are definitely not "normal" but he always felt a bit proud of his status. He wasn't just any friend. He was his best friend and his first believer - the first human to see the invisible spirit.

"What's on your mind, Jack?" he asked. His teeth no longer chattered.

Jack sighed. He was lost in thought. He silently hopped over to the window and sat in the frame staring out into the street below. He finally met his friend's eyes with an apologetic look.

"I'm really sorry you got to see that… and feel that." He dropped his gaze to the floor ashamed.

"You're forgiven. But that's not what I mean. Something is bothering you," Jamie said softly. "I haven't seen you like this in… well, maybe never. Talk to me."

Jack leaned on the window frame observing the people on the street yet again.

"Look at them," he finally said quietly after a pause. "Going about their day. Living their lives. So very human. They too will be gone in a flash."

Jamie was confused but waited hoping the spirit would open up. He was finally starting to warm up so he took off his jacket, dropped it on the floor and went back under the covers. The room was always cold with Jack around.

Jack started to absentmindedly doodle frost patterns on the glass with his finger. After a while, he finally spoke, "You know, I've been curious about other nature spirits. I've been seeking them out."

Jamie's interest peaked. No, he didn't know about this. It seemed that he was going to get something out of Jack after all.

"I found a few," Jack continued slowly. "There's something I noticed they have in common." He now moved to doodle on the other side of the window as he was running out of space. "They are pretty content with what they are."

"And you're not?" Jamie asked.

Jack took a moment to answer thinking it over.

"No, it's not that. I like what I am. I don't have regrets. It's just," he cut off looking for the right words, "it's been a long three centuries, you know? And I'm starting to wonder if all this time I've been looking at it from a wrong perspective."

Jamie had no idea where this was going but stayed quiet allowing his friend to gather his thoughts.

"The other spirits, they… They're not like me," Jack continued. He now ran out of space on the glass. He waved his hand to remove the frost so he could start all over again. "They stick to their element. And just that. All nature. That's enough for them. And what have I been doing? I've been flying all over Earth looking for the meaning behind my existence among people. And I'm starting to wonder if that was a mistake."

Jack went quiet leaving Jamie perplexed. What was he trying to say?

"I thought that once you joined the Guardians, you got your answer," Jamie finally said. "You bring winter fun to children. That's why Man in the Moon chose you. That's your meaning. Are you saying you don't want to do that anymore?"

"No, it's not that," Jack quickly replied. "I like playing with children. And I will help the Guardians when they need me. I love that part but…"

"But what, Jack?" Jamie was getting frustrated.

Jack finally stopped doodling and hang his hand limply by his side. He propped his head on the glass and closed his eyes.

"I'm saying, I think I shouldn't be trying so hard… with people." He swallowed and continued tripping over his words, "I'm a nature spirit. I'm not human. Maybe I should stop clinging to this idea that my place is among humans."

The room became quiet and Jamie sighed thinking, 'Great. My best friend the Spirit of Winter is having an existential crisis.'


	2. Wind is not enough

Claire had been trekking through the woods for days. She was tired of them and longed for some comfort. Sure, the chill of the late autumn night did not bother her. Her limbs were not tired. The night had just started so there was no need to sleep yet. But the branches kept snagging her clothes, and mud made them dirty. She had leaves, twigs, spiderwebs and who knows what else stuck in her hair. After all this time in the wilderness, she looked haggard and you know what they say about looks. What you wear influences how you'll feel. She was definitely feeling it. 

It didn't help that she was still wearing the clothes he gave her. Brown leggings, long violet skirt, white rather revealing shirt, embroidered dark violet vest hugging her ribs tightly and accentuating her boobs, and a matching jacket. His gypsy fantasy. She was glad it was all torn up by now. She couldn't wait to get out of this stupid costume and wear some simple jeans and a tunic - her go-to comfy clothes.

Her eyes stung and tears threatened to come as she remembered what she was running from giving her the motivation to keep going.

_"I know deep down you want me," he had said to her when she refused him yet again. "Just give it time and you won't be able to resist all of this," he added running his disgusting hands down his body. "We've got all the time in the world."_

Why was her luck so treacherous to give her a sire like Oriol?

No. She would not cry. She would never shed a tear over him ever again. She was free now would do whatever it took to shape her own destiny.

"I will never be like you, Oriol!" she yelled into the night picking up her pace.

She heard a thumping of a heart. She smelled the air and recognized the scent of a buck. All her attention was focused on it now. She silently prepared herself and sprung on it immediately. She was quick and efficient. When her fangs penetrated the tough skin, the toxin was released and the animal relaxed. She drank from it while it slowly dozed off. She hated hunting the innocent animals but it was a necessity. She was careful to pick the strong ones that wouldn't be too weakened by the loss of blood. In areas that had a lot of predators, she would even hang around her pray to defend it after feeding until the animal woke up and was able to run away. This area was deserted so she could let this buck sleep it off.

Claire continued walking and sighed. This feeding wasn't enough, really. First of all, there weren't many animals in this area so she didn't get to feed often. Second of all, there's just so much animal blood can do in terms of nutrition. She was starving. Her body demanded human blood.

"Fine," she said to herself. "I'll find a town. I'll find some unlucky humans there and pounce on them while they sleep. Ooooh. Maybe I'll get a bath!" 

She perked up at the thought of submerging herself in a warm scented water and continued her trek more enthusiastically.

* * *

While flying slowly high above the clouds, Jack was deep in thought. He wasn't sure why he said those things to Jamie in the first place. As much as he loved his best friend, he knew he wouldn't understand. Heck. He honestly didn't understand it all either. Too many thoughts had been bugging him recently.

Wind ruffled his hair trying to cheer him up and he smiled at it. Wind had been his companion from the very beginning. Sometimes, she was the only one he could talk to. But let's be honest. She was not enough. That's why he had always longed for human interaction. He was human once, it only made sense that that's the only type of comfort he would know to seek but what if he was missing the point? What if his attachment to his lingering human emotions and needs was in fact what was holding him back from being happy?

The other nature spirits he had found were much older than he was. Some were thousands of years old, others maybe millions or maybe they were timeless. Compared to his three centuries… Humph. He was a baby spirit by comparison. He wondered if maybe with time, he would become more like them - all nature and no longer resembling a human, at least not on the inside. It was bound to happen eventually. Should he attempt to fight that process? Should he fight to keep his humanity? Was there a point to it?

It seemed that holding on to his human needs only brought him misery. He could watch humans go on with their lives but could never be a part of it. Those special humans, like Jamie, gave him the companionship he craved so much but they would grow old and die and leave him alone yet again. 

Jamie was already an adult. Jack closed his eyes already dreading the day when he would lose him. Could he go through the heartache of losing a best friend every few decades over and over again century after century? Why would he do that to himself?

He was tired of the turmoil in his head and decided to take a rest. Night had fallen already. He wasn't exactly sure where he was. He was traveling north so he was probably somewhere in Canada by now. He found a spot to rest on a halfway fallen tree. The large trunk was slightly curved and would provide a cozy perch just a few feet above the ground. He settled himself there and closed his eyes waiting for Sandy to send a peaceful dream his way.


	3. Beware of the bloody slushies

"Trees, trees, everywhere TREES!" Claire screamed into the night.

She was sick of all this walking. She tried hard to not linger on how she got herself in this situation: stranded far from civilization somewhere in the cold damp Canadian wilderness. No. She wasn't going to waste any more of her tears. She would not think about it.

Her fangs throbbed and she moaned. She hadn't had a decent feed in days. Why was she so unlucky to pick a route that all humans avoided? Where were they hiding? No hikers, no hunters and definitely no towns. If she had at least encountered a road, she could follow it until finding some establishments. A road would make for a much easier hike anyway.

After hours of struggling with her clothes getting stuck in thorny bushes and getting her shoes stuck in the mud for the n-th time, she came to a sudden stop. A heartbeat. Yes! She stilled and smelled the air to identify her prey. All she smelled was cold crisp air, a sign that winter was coming. Maybe the prey was downwind. She stalked silently following the sound of the heart. What could it be? Another buck? Ooooh. Maybe a bear? That would be a great catch.

She finally saw the source of the heartbeat and couldn't believe her luck. A human! A human was sleeping in a halfway-fallen tree. Completely unguarded. Left there like a tasty treat just for her.

Her fangs pulsed with anticipation but she was going to do it right. She hated the messiness of feeding on humans. They screamed, thrashed, begged. It was major drama on top of a guilt-trip. Oriol always said that their blood tastes better when they're scared but she never bought it. Claire preferred to feed on them when they were asleep. Then, the toxin she released from her fangs simply made them sleep deeper so they were completely unaware of her bite. It was quick, clean, humane and remorseless.

She stalked silently to not wake the human. Once she was close enough she pounced in one quick move. She moaned with pleasure as her sensitive fangs penetrated the soft skin and she started to drink. Finally. A human.

Only seconds into the feeding she suddenly felt an immense pain in her temple. She unlatched herself off of her pray and crouched on the ground with both hands to her head. What was this sudden pain? Right after that unpleasantry, she felt a sensation spreading from her stomach throughout her whole body. It was cold. Bone-chilling cold penetrating her each cell. She shivered involuntarily. Shivered? She had never felt cold before. Vampires don't mind cold. Why were her teeth suddenly chattering?

She finally raised herself to look at her prey realizing the problem.

"There's something wrong with this blood."

Claire looked closer to see what exactly she had just fed on. To her amazement, there was something going on on the skin she had just bitten.

Her fang marks were covered by a thin layer of frost. She watched with a fascination as the frost covering the small wounds was absorbed revealing completely healed skin.

"What the…?"

She looked at the face of the human. It was a young man with pale skin illuminated in the moonlight. Her toxin was working on him. He was now in an even deeper sleep. His mouth slightly opened and he lightly snored.

Now that she was sure he wouldn't wake up just yet, she could examine him more to figure out what exactly she was looking at. He could have been mistaken for a vampire. He was pale enough, his body did not emit any heat, he healed as fast as her own kind and now that she was close, she realized he lacked the human scent. That's the little detail she failed to notice when she was so excited earlier thinking she had found a human to feed on. 

But he wasn't a vampire. First of all, she could still hear his heartbeat. Second of all, she'd tasted vampire blood before and it was definitely not this cold.

A few years ago, in a moment of desperation (and curiosity) she broke into a human blood bank. She drank a few of those bags of blood that came straight from a refrigerator. It was nasty, drinking old cold blood like that. But his blood wasn't like that old blood though. It was colder, much colder. In fact, she still shivered a bit not completely recovered from it. But despite the coldness, it actually wasn't nasty at all. Now that she thought about it, she felt satisfied. She wouldn't have thought it possible. She had been starving. It should have taken her few proper feedings before she tamed the thirst. And here, she only fed for a few seconds. She licked her lips.

"What are you, pale cold being?"

Claire got back to examining him closer. His skin caught her eye again. It was beautifully pale, nearly translucent with very faint freckles on the cheeks. Her heightened vampire sight allowed her to see more than what humans would have noticed. His skin not only glowed in the moonlight, it gently shimmered as if sprinkled with the finest diamond dust. It reminded her of something she couldn't just place.

She looked closer at his face and was surprised to see white hair peeking out from under his blue hood. She gently lowered the hood careful to not wake him to see it closer and gasped. She'd never seen hair like this before. It was purely white, straight, slightly overgrown as it was falling into his eyes. She was a bit jealous. It was the type of hair that looked good even when it was never combed. And, yeah. He obviously did not comb it. She dared to touch it. It was very soft and cool to the touch. It shimmered just like his skin reflecting the light of the moon.

Looking at his striking white hair she finally understood what this diamond dust shimmer reminded her of. It reminded her of perfect untouched snow glittering peacefully at night reflecting even the faintest light. She got lost in warm memories of the past, of beautiful winter sceneries worthy of a postcard. A cottage surrounded by trees. Snow gently falling down glittering all around her. She could hear the laughs of children playing in the snow, chasing each other, having fun.

She shook herself from the nostalgia and looked back at the pale young man. He was definitely not dressed warmly enough for this cool weather. In fact, he didn't even have shoes on. Just tight old deerskin pants and a blue hoodie. But since he wasn't human, maybe the cold didn't bother him, just like it didn't bother her.

Claire would have been content staring at him some more but she noticed that he stirred. It looked as if he was about to wake up. No. She didn't feed long enough to release enough toxin to keep him asleep longer. She felt a sting of panic. She should run but something kept her fixed on the spot - his blood. As unpleasant the coldness of it was (she still didn't know what to think about the headache it gave her), she wanted to know what kind of blood she just drank. She wanted to know what type of creature he was and where they could be found. This blood was obviously potent if it could satisfy her in such a short feeding. It could be a once in a lifetime opportunity and so she decided that she couldn't just walk away. So, she stayed put waiting for him to wake up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up, Jack wakes up. What do you think will happen? Leave your theories in the comments.


	4. That’s just rude

Jack woke up, slowly opened his eyes and rubbed the side of his neck. It felt itchy, like after a mosquito bite which was strange. Mosquitos did not find his cold blood appealing. In fact, all insects tended to avoid him. 

The moon was right in front of him. He stared at it for a moment longing for an answer to all the questions which were back swirling in his head. The nap he took was not enough to relieve the ache of thinking.

He crossed his arms under his head and sighed swinging one leg off the tree.

"Do you have any answers for me?" The Moon remained quiet. "Great talking to you, Manny. As always."

A snap of a twig interrupted his thoughts. He looked for the source and found that there was a woman looking right at him with a confused look on her face. No. She couldn't be possibly looking at him. He was invisible to all but a handful of children who knew his name. Well, Jamie wasn't a child anymore but Jamie was a special case. Jack looked behind him to see what the woman could possibly be looking at. There was nothing there but more trees.

He sat up and studied her appearance. Even though she looked atrocious with her ripped and dirty clothes and a mess of a hair, she was beautiful. Her eyes caught his attention the most. The moon illuminated her enough that he could tell that they were an unusual color. Sort of like hazel but closer to a warm orange.

"Are you eyeing my tree?" he smirked. "Do you want to take a nap on it like I did?" He wagged his eyebrows playfully. "Why not? Join me. I'll scooch over. I don't mind the company," he chuckled.

To his surprise she replied.

"Why would I want to sleep in a tree?"

After centuries of not being heard, Jack never assumed anymore that people addressed him when they talked in his direction. He'd seen many people talk to themselves. He found those conversations actually to be fun. He liked to pretend that they were in fact talking to him, so he could join in and delight in their unexpected replies. What's stranger? Talking to yourself or pretending that a person that is talking to themselves is actually talking to you? When those were the only conversation he could have, he used each of those opportunities and it looked like he got his chance for a conversation again.

"Oh, I wouldn't dismiss it that quickly." He smiled and patted the tree with his hand. "There's not much choice around here anyway. You might as well pick this one," he added with a wink. "I'll behave. I promise."

She frowned and shifted her position from one leg to the other unsure of what to do with herself. She seemed frustrated.

"What's bothering you, beautiful?" He looked at her haggard clothes. "You've been going through some tough times, huh? It's the middle of nowhere. Are you lost?" He sighed, "I'd lead you out of here if only you could see me."

The spirit lightly jumped off his tree, grabbed his staff and walked over closer to her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

He was the one confused now. It was a strange conversation she was having with herself. He walked around her looking at her closer. Her eyes were darting around the trees but he could swear that from time to time she looked right at him. He groaned with frustration and stared at the ground.

"Great. I'm so desperate to be seen that I'm imagining that people actually look at me. I'm pathetic."

He pouted at the ground for a moment and finally sneaked a peek back at her fully expecting her to be looking elsewhere by now but found that her orange eyes were looking right into his.

"What are you talking about?" she asked him exasperated.

* * *

Claire was starting to regret staying behind to figure out what the pale cold being was. Obviously, he wasn’t too shy to talk but he wasn't making any sense. Great. Now, as if sensing what she was thinking he started waving his hand in front of her.

"I'm not blind. Stop waving your hand like a madman."

He gasped and stared at her with huge blue eyes and a slightly open mouth, one side rising into a smile. 

"Hi."

"Hi," she answered automatically.

Hearing her reply he jumped a step back, leaned on his staff and brought his fist to his mouth as if he had a hard time holding back his excitement. She noticed that when he jumped, it looked a bit unnatural. He landed too quietly as if he weighed much less than what a grown man does. She noticed the same when he jumped off the tree earlier. It looked as if gravity didn't apply to him the same as it did to everyone else.

"What are you?" she finally asked hoping he'd start talking again.

He looked at her with a playful smile.

"That's rather rude, wouldn't you say? I'm not a _what_. I'm a _who_."

She blinked at his response. "Okay. You're a who. Uhm… Who… who are you?"

He quietly jumped in one leap right up to her and outstretched his hand enthusiastically. "I'm Jack. And you?"

She blinked still not completely recovered from his little gravity-defying leap. 

"Claire." 

She shook his cold hand still trying to process what she saw. He just didn't move like a human. She knew he wasn't human based on his blood, and well, neither was she but still she continued moving like one. It's a technique all vampires used in order to blend in among humans, to not attract attention. This pale cold beeing... this Jack seemed to not care that he acted supernaturally. Or did he not even notice what he was doing?

"What are you doing here in the middle of nowhere?" he asked snapping her out of her thoughts.

"You're the one to talk. You're not even wearing any shoes." She gestured at his pale bare feet. Strange. She was sure he had just walked through mud but his feet were clean.

"Shoes are overrated," he joked and wiggled his toes noticing that she was staring.

She looked at his smiling face unsure of what to do. She had so many questions. He clearly did not want to answer the main one 'What are you?' but maybe if she kept him talking, he would slip up and give her some clues. She was just thinking of sneaky questions she could ask him when a familiar tingling sensation spread over her skin. A warning. The sun was going to come up in a few minutes. She had to find shelter immediately.


	5. Once upon a rock

Jack was coming out of his skin with excitement. A grown woman could see him. This was a first! How was this possible?

"I'd love to continue our talk, Jack and maybe we could travel together," Claire said urgently. "I'd love the company but right now, I'm really really tired. Did you notice any place around that would make for a good shelter? Maybe a cave or something?"

A cave? Jack was ready to jump into action. 'Don't worry, my beautiful,' he thought, 'I'll be your knight in shining armor.' He ran up the tree he had used for a nap earlier and stood on its highest tip to have a better view of the surroundings. He wasn't sure exactly why he didn't want to fly in front of her. Maybe just for a moment longer he wanted to pretend that he was just a human having a simple conversation with another human about a very human-like problem? It was stupid and he didn't know where that thought came from but he couldn't help it so he just went along playing the part.

After looking around for a moment, he saw a rock formation.

"The rocks over there look promising," he told her excitedly. "Come." He grabbed her hand to lead the way.

She glanced at the hand he was holding but did not protest.

Jack continued leading her between the trees and started to become very aware of her hand in his. Why exactly was he still holding it? He wasn't sure but it felt nice. He'd held hands before with the children he played with and it was always a nice experience to touch someone but this felt different.

He gave her a smile and pointed at the rocks which just came into view.

"Let's check these out."

She let go of his hand and started to inspect the rocks carefully. She walked around them picking a spot on the north-west side of the rocks and sat down getting comfortable.

"Yes, this will do great," she smiled up at him.

"Are you sure?" he wondered. "I think the other side looks more comfortable for you."

"No. This is better. Thank you, Jack." She looked at him with honest gratitude and he couldn't help but smile back in response.

"As you wish. Do you need anything? I mean, it might get a bit chilly for you here. I don't know if I can find you anything warm around here…" he trailed off realizing that they truly were in the middle of nowhere. He wouldn't find anything here. He would offer to make her fire but really, fire did not like him any better than he liked it. In fact, candles had been known to go out just from him being in the room. No, this spirit wouldn't be able to start a fire for her.

"I'll be fine. I promise. I don't mind the cold," she reassured him.

A goofy grin spread on his lips. She didn't mind the cold. 'Brace yourself, beautiful,' he thought dreamily. 'Cold is what I've got.'

* * *

Claire got herself comfortable and drifted off into sleep. Jack sighed happily but then rubbed his back. What now? He couldn't just leave her here. She said she wanted to travel with him and his heart did a little somersault at the thought. 'I'll wait and we'll travel together.'

The sun finally came up warming up the air around him and waking up the forest. The fall was coming to an end. Winter was coming. He could feel it in his bones as it called to him, strengthened him. He closed his eyes, breathed in the air and enjoyed the cool breeze.

Jack quietly moved to the other side of the rock where he was sure Claire wouldn't see him. There he asked Wind to help him up so he could sit on the very top of the rock. She ruffled his hair and playfully blew in his face. The spirit laughed. Wind was such a tease.

"How should I approach this, Wind?" he asked quietly. "She doesn't know what I am. Not yet. How long can I pretend to be human?" His smile wavered. Just yesterday he was telling Jamie how it was pointless to attempt to hang around humans so much. He was a spirit. He should embrace that he was simply part of nature and stop bothering with the affairs of men but as he thought about Claire sleeping under the rock on the rough terrain, he couldn't deny his desire for companionship. It felt really nice to hold her hand in his. It was a nice feeling to know that maybe he could help her. She was obviously lost and he could get her to safety. On top of that, she could see him. Each new believer filled him with joy but in this case the feeling was magnified.

"Maybe it's worth it to hold on to humanity for a while longer, Wind? What do you think?"

In response, Wind went back to playing with his hair separating each strand and combing it gently. Jack laughed. Wind really had a thing for his hair.

"Get a room, you two," he joked. Wind blew in his face stronger this time making him laugh again.

He sat down with his hands behind supporting him, hung his head back and closed his eyes. Contrary to what some might think, Jack liked the sun as long as it wasn't too strong. He avoided hot temperatures but a gentle sun like this was pleasant. He didn't really feel warmer, no, but he could feel the sun's energy seeping into him, relaxing him, bringing easy peace.

He wondered if there was a sun spirit somewhere out there. What would a sun spirit do anyway? The sun seemed to be able to do its thing without anyone's help. Well, if it came to think of it, it wasn’t like his existence was that easy to explain either. Winter would come whether he did anything about it or not. He simply had power over it but was he necessary? In that case, maybe there was a sun spirit somewhere out there having control over the sun, bringing sun fun to children of Earth.

He chuckled at his strange thoughts. What else is there to do but think when you're a winter spirit and you've got time on your hands because winter hasn't come yet? He took a deep breath as the power of winter stirred inside him growing impatient, aching to be used. He could bring winter to this desolated land even right now but no, he wouldn't. Claire was still here. He had to get her to safety first.

Jack decided to use this time to plan a little. Planning wasn't really his strong suit but he should make an effort this time. Claire still thought he was human. He had to be careful to not slip up and do or say something non-human like so she wouldn't freak out. He really cared a lot about getting her to like him.

He wasn't going to use his powers. Check. He wasn't going to ask Wind for anything with Claire around. Check. Home. Right, humans had homes. He could say he lived in Burgess. That's the closest to an idea of a home he had. It was his birthplace twice after all: of his human and his spirit birth. Check. What else? What else? He wished there was some kind of "How to resemble a human" manual. Oh, his hair. What if she asked him why his hair was white? Usually, only old people have white hair. Ehrr. How old should he be? He was 19 when he died and was reborn as the Spirit of Winter but Claire was definitely older than that, probably in her late twenties. For some reason he wanted to be closer to her age, to be her peer. Let's say, 23. Check. So, why was his hair white? Uhm. Genetics. Deal with it. Check. Why didn’t he wear shoes? He hated them and that was actually the truth. Check.

He couldn't think of any other questions she might ask him but felt proud of himself for actually planning something in advance for a change. He couldn't explain why he was trying so hard to appear human. Maybe, if just for a short while, he just wanted her to see him as her equal, so he could feel what it was like to have a real friend, not that Jamie wasn't his friend but Jamie knew exactly who Jack was and treated him accordingly. Jack wanted to experience the wonder of real human interaction maybe for the last time before he gave up his humanity for good.


	6. How to resemble a human, a manual

The day was slowly coming to an end. Jack got off his perch on top of the rock to check on Claire. She was still fast asleep. She must have been exhausted before to sleep this long. He decided to use this time to find a way out. The spirit flew around for a few minutes until he located a small town just a few miles away. He memorized the road leading to it so that he could take her to safety when she woke up. These woods were really no place for her.

He sat at her side and watched her sleep in the deep shadow of the rock. She looked so peaceful. Her tangled dark hair was falling on her face and he gently moved it back on top of her head. 

'How did you get yourself stranded here, beautiful?' 

Now that he was this close, he could see just how striking her beauty was. She had well-defined features and a natural allure that no makeup would be able to replicate. Her complexion was very interesting. It was a bit darker, almost olive toned but also pale at the same time. He couldn't place it.

Her long eyelashes slightly fluttered as she started to wake up.

"Finally, you're waking up," he said excitedly. "The sun has just gone down. I was hoping you'd wake up while it was still daytime so we wouldn't have to travel in the dark but you were sleeping so peacefully, I didn't want to disturb you."

She blinked for a moment shaking the sleep off. "No. It's fine. I don't mind the dark. Thank you for letting me sleep. I was exhausted."

The spirit smiled back in response glad that he made the right choice. "Then, let's go. I think I know which way to go. Follow me."

 

After walking for only a few minutes, Claire saw that Jack had led her to a road.

"Look at that. A road. We'll follow it into town," he said urging her to follow him.

"I must have the worst luck in the world," she said narrowing her eyes on him. "I've wandered for a long time without finding any roads. How did you find it this quickly?"

He had a look of panic on his face. He obviously did not expect that he was going to have to explain his supernatural sense of direction.

"Uhm... just luck… I guess."

She studied his face. It was amazing how expressive it was. Poor fellow could never hide even the smallest emotion. You could see it all in his startling blue eyes. He would make an awful poker player.

The walk was long so she used this time to probe him further hoping he’d finally slip up and give her a clue as to what he was.

"So what do you do, Jack?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, for a living?" she clarified. Jack still stared at her confused. "I mean like a job. Do you have a job? Or are you a student? What do you do?"

"Oh." He rubbed his neck nervously.

Claire was amused by his continued (failed) attempts at appearing human adn smirked at his panic. 'There he goes. Not so easy to pretend to be human, huh? A lot of details to make up.'

He ran a hand through his hair a few times messing it up. A little gust of wind suddenly blew at him (how come it blew at him but not at her?) and smoothed up his hair back to what it was. Well, this was strange. He had a personal invisible hairdresser.

He finally broke off from his thinking. "I work with kids. I make sure they're safe and that they're having fun."

"Oh," Claire humored him thinking he'll stumble again. "Like a teacher?"

"Like a guardian," he answered proudly with a smile.

'Well, look at that' she thought. 'We'll see how long you can keep this up.'

As they continued walking, she took a better look at the wooden staff he was holding. It was slightly taller than him and curved at the end. But the interesting part was that he used it as a hand to gesticulate while talking or to point as if it was an extension of himself. Obviously, it was important. Right now, it was leaning casually on his shoulder.

"So… what's with the stick?" she probed.

"Uhm. My staff?" Jack looked at her and then at his staff as if he had only now remembered he was holding it. "Uhm… Well, it's a… a walking stick!" He nodded and smiled clearly satisfied with himself.

"A walking stick?" She narrowed her eyes. "Then, why do you not use it for walking? Why do you just carry it?"

He smiled trying to cover up his lame excuse. "Well. I don't need it for walking right now. Still, I'm pretty attached to it. I've had it for a long time." He then used the staff like a golf club hitting the pebble in front of him. "It comes in useful, you know?" He dazzled her with a smile and she rolled her eyes but it was difficult to be annoyed with him. He just radiated positive energy and was genuinely pleasant to be around.

Claire got lost in thought. Jack's company was a huge difference from what she had experienced over the last 8 years. She got so used to her kind's brutality and heartlessness, she forgot what it was like to spend time with someone who didn't hide evil thoughts behind their smile. Back there, she was afraid that eventually she would become like them, that she was going to lose her humanity. 

She missed this. This casual interaction between people. No power struggle. No politics. Just hanging out with someone. Having a… friend. Wow. She never would have thought it possible to forget what it was like to have a friend. She dropped her gaze when her heart grew heavy. Loneliness had been her only companion for her entire vampire life.

They had finally reached the town and were looking around to get oriented.

"Lighten up, Claire. Have some fun for a change," Jack snapped her out of her contemplation. Then, he jumped on top of a fence and casually strolled on it as if it was the most normal thing in the world. He swung his staff to carry it on both shoulders and rested his hands on it. 

Claire noticed that his balance never wavered and he didn't even look where he was placing his feet. A grown man using a fence as a sidewalk is one thing but this unnatural balance was just unnerving. How were his feet not getting hurt on the uneven surface? And the worst part was that he was oblivious to how inhuman he appeared. He finally jumped off, too lightly, like gravity didn't apply to him, and looked around while twirling the staff between his fingers.

"Well, what should we look for first?" He pointed the staff at her. "Are you hungry?"

She thought about it for a moment trying to determine priorities.

"I think I should look for something to change into and clean up. I'm going to attract a lot of attention looking like this," she said looking over the leftovers of her wretched clothes.

The only store which was still open at that hour was a small convenience store. Thankfully, it had a tiny selection of clothes. The cashier looked at her funny and ignored Jack standing right next to her. Well, she did look like a mess but she would have thought that Jack looked unusual as well with his white hair, long stick and his shoeless situation.

She bought herself a comb and a clean gray t-shirt a few sizes too large which was actually better because she could wear it as a tunic. She hopped into the bathroom to get out of her tattered skirt, stupid vest and shirt keeping just her leggings and jacket. She wiped the mud off her shoes, combed her hair and cleaned herself up as much as she could in the sink and came out feeling much better.

"You look great," Jack exclaimed with a smile.

"Do you need anything?" she asked gesturing at his bare feet and then a display rack which had a few pairs of what could possibly pass for shoes.

He followed her gaze and shook his head. "I despise shoes," he said with a shrug.

Okay. She guessed they were going to attract attention anyway.

"So, this is probably the only place where you can get food at this hour," he said running his hand through his hair. "You must be starving by now."

She sighed. She had to keep up the pretense so she grabbed some random snacks from a shelf and paid for them with her card. She noticed he didn't mention himself. He wasn't hungry? That was interesting.

"Bye," Jack said to the cashier as they were walking out chuckling to himself as if he had just said a joke.

There were probably 3 or 4 hours left in the night. Claire had to find shelter soon. In the meantime, she wasn't sure what to do. Jack never said what exactly he was doing there in the woods. Now, that he brought her into town, was he going to leave? She still hadn't figured out what he was. She needed more time. Also, she was starting to get thirsty again and hoped she could catch him sleeping. She obviously couldn't hunt anyone else with him trailing around everywhere she went.

"Well, we need a place to eat and rest," she finally said and licked her lips.

He nodded and looked around. Then, he got excited as he remembered something. "I think we passed a little motel on the way to the store. Let's go!" He turned around looking back to check if she followed.

The motel had definitely seen better days. The wall paint had faded and the neon letters "M" and "L" were out leaving the sign as "OTE" but it would do. Jack opened the door for her and let her go in first then just stood at the reception area looking around. He wasn't going to go up and ask for a room? He seemed very content letting her do all the talking. She looked at him quizzically.

When he noticed her stare, he looked from her to the receptionist with a look of panic. 

"Uhm… Sorry but I have no money on me," he finally said hunched down in embarrassment.

Claire rolled her eyes. "No problem. I do."

The receptionist said, "Huh?"

Claire forced a smile. "One room, please. Two beds."

The receptionist looked around as if confused but then shrugged going about her thing. It was surprising how easily people ignored Jack's strange appearance.

Once in the room, Claire opened up a bag of chips taking one and offering the bag to Jack. He smiled reaching in. 

"Thanks," he said eating it with a crunch. 

She ate her chip reluctantly. Ugh. Food tasted awful ever since she was turned but she had to keep up the charade so she kept eating.

Now, that they were in a lit place, she studied him more. Under the man-made light, his pale skin no longer shimmered like it did in the moonlight but it seemed flawless like a porcelain doll's. His hair was absolutely perfect, slightly messy in that sexy 'I look good without trying' way. He ran his fingers through it again and she wished she could do it for him. His eyes were a gorgeous blue like ice. He was handsome, she admitted but then got embarrassed for even thinking it. He was obviously much younger than she was and that's not even counting the fact that she had been a vampire for 8 years already. 'He's just a kid,' she scolded herself. 'Get a grip.'

They ate all the snacks now. Jack seemed to like each one of them so she let him eat the majority. The silence in the room was starting to get uncomfortable. Thankfully, he broke it when he yawned wide stretching. 

"If you don't mind, I think it's a perfect time to rest." His eyes were already drooping.

"Yes. Of course," she said thankful that he was the first to say that.

Claire closed the light and laid down on top of the covers. Jack did the same on the other bed. He was asleep in seconds and Claire rolled her eyes when she saw that he was still clutching his staff. 'Just a walking stick? Please.' But the stick wasn't her concern now.

She waited for a few minutes to ensure that he was sleeping deeply, then, she crept up to him quietly. She looked at his flawless pale skin and licked her lips anticipating sinking her fangs into it. As she leaned down, she was struck with a realization that she had never fed from the same person more than once. Additionally, she had never fed from someone she knew. So now, instead of feeding being just a necessity, it felt strangely intimate.

She shook that thought off and braced herself knowing that the blood was going to be cold. She bit down on his cool skin and moaned in pleasure. Now, that she was no longer surprised by the cold, she could properly enjoy it. His blood was thick and rich and amazingly satisfying. It reminded her of when she was human and she would devour an entire box of her favorite chocolate ice cream. 

Before she could drink too much though, she got that searing headache again. She stopped drinking and massaged her temples wincing as cold spread through her body again. She looked at the sleeping young man and smiled finally understanding. 

"Brain freeze," she chuckled to herself.

"Well, you may not have money on you but you're earning your keep, sweet Jack. Thank you for being delicious," she said quietly and gently moved his hair out of his eyes feeling very protective of him. He was her Jack now.

He was sleeping very soundly now, even gently snoring. She fed on him a lot longer this time so there was a good amount of sleeping toxin in his body. He should be out for several hours. She walked to the window to close the drapes. The sun was going to rise soon. She bit her lip looking back at Jack. 

'I hope he won't try to open the drapes during the day.' 

Finally, she decided that she was going to completely cover herself with the blanket just in case. When she got to the window and reached for the drapes, she noticed a movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked towards it and gasped when she saw that there was someone right outside the door looking right at her.


	7. Treacherous Jukebox

Bill kicked the door in and barged inside. He'd been tracking Claire just waiting for her to make a mistake. Damned woman was too much trouble and Oriol was already on his case for taking too long to find her. Bill didn't know what the big fuss was about. She was nothing special and stupid too for making such an amateur mistake which had just gotten her caught.

"Well, hello there, Claire," he said smirking at her. She looked around looking for a way to escape but the warlock he brought with him had his back. She wasn't going anywhere.

Someone groaned. Bill looked around the room and noticed some guy who must have just woken up when he kicked the door in. He smelled the air. Not human. Huh. Claire got herself a vamp boy toy this quickly? Oriol will want to know. 

'Sorry, dude,' he thought. 'You picked the wrong chick.'

"Grab him too," he ordered to the warlock as he grabbed Claire and dragged her out of the room. She struggled a lot kicking him and crying out but she was no match for his strength. He just ignored her antics.

Her new boy toy didn't even put up a fight. He just looked around dazed saying "What's going on? Where are we going?" He appeared very drowsy. Did she drug him or something? Bill shrugged. It wasn't his problem.

They rushed into the van and Bill locked himself in the back with both of them. They barely made it. The sun was going to be up in a few minutes. The warlock got behind the wheel and drove.

Claire crouched on the floor grabbing her boy toy who was laying on the floor trying to keep him away from Bill. The young guy just closed his eyes and fell back asleep again. Yeah. She definitely drugged him. The ride was long and bumpy in the back of the van but Bill was content. 

'Oriol will be pleased,' he thought.

* * *

Claire hugged Jack close to herself unsure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that he fell back asleep. On the one hand, it was easier, he didn't have to panic as she did and he got to rest properly so he'd have energy to escape later. On the other hand, he was completely defenseless. 

'I'm so sorry, Jack,' she lamented internally while stroking his soft white hair. 'I'm so sorry you got pulled into my problems.' She was scared more for him than for herself. What were they going to do to him? Once they discovered how delicious his blood was, a gruesome, torturous death awaited him.

The ride was over and they pulled up into a fully covered garage. The van door opened, Bill got out and she smelled the familiar dampness of Oriol's underground compound. To think it took her days to get away from there and just about three hours to get back. Jack was stirring about to wake up. She looked at him worried and finally whispered into his ear.

"Jack. You must wake up right now." She shook him and he started to slowly open his eyes. "Listen carefully," she continued. "These people kidnapped us. They're very dangerous. I… Unfortunately, I know them. This is where I ran away from." He was fully awake now looking at her questioningly. "Don't freak out and don't say anything. They are vampires." She let that one sink in and answered the question in his eyes. "Yes. Vampires are real. I think they mistook you for one of them since you are so pale. Play along for now and… and just look for an opportunity to escape as soon as possible. They mustn't find out you are not a vampire."

"Get out, you two," Bill yelled outside the van.

"What?" Jack whispered back to her still trying to comprehend the situation. "Okay, okay, it's going to be fine. We'll escape together."

Claire shook her head. "I don't think it will be possible. It's just me they want, Jack. You need to run."

"If you don't get out now, I will drag you out." Bill was getting impatient.

"No. I can't leave you!" Jack protested but Claire got out of the van before he could grab her.

* * *

Jack couldn't believe what was happening. He got out of the van after Claire and was glad to find that he was still holding his staff in his hand. At least they didn't take it away from him. He leaned it on his shoulder trying to not draw attention to it. He saw Claire being dragged away by the big guy that was yelling at them to come out earlier. He still didn't completely comprehend what was happening. There were several scary looking guys around him. Someone pushed him to move and since it was in the direction they took Claire, he didn't protest.

He heeded Claire's warning that they were dangerous and so he decided to play along pretending. Were they really vampires? He didn't even know they were real. He looked at the guy next to him to inspect him. He had an ashen pale skin and eyes which were nearly glowing. It was creepy enough but then the guy noticed him staring and smiled revealing sharp fangs. Jack gulped. 'Yup. Vampires are real.'

They continued walking through the long winding tunnels. The place was like a maze of hallways and each one looked the same as the others.

Suddenly, a thought hit him, 'They can all see me!' 

First, Claire could see him, now all of these vampires. What was happening? He came up with two theories to explain that mystery. 1. North mentioned that his powers would grow as a Guardian. He didn't know what it meant specifically but apparently, the more believers you have, the more power you gain. Maybe his newest power was becoming visible? 2. Vampires are supernatural creatures so they obviously believed in other supernatural beings. Maybe that belief was enough to allow them to see spirits? Same would apply to Claire since she knew these vampires so she had to believe in supernatural as well.

Claire. What were they going to do to her? Jack was scared for her. The Guardian in him strained with the need to protect her but his heart ached mostly because he started to think of her as a friend. She was a total opposite of him in many ways. She was strong, serious, calculated and smart but he recognized that she'd suffered a lot in her life. Underneath the mask of composure, she hid a great deal of sadness and loneliness. He could relate to that. After all, he spent 300 years all alone. They both had gaping holes in their souls and could be each other's salvation. But now, she was in danger. He had to do something.

The spirit looked around at the vampires surrounding him in the hallway. Could he take them all on? He knew nothing about them, how strong they were, what abilities they possessed and what their weaknesses were. 

Up ahead, he noticed that Claire was shoved into a room, the door was slammed and locked. 

'Hang in there, Claire. I'll get you out.'

He was shoved into the room on the opposite side of the hallway and the door slammed behind him.

He looked around to orient himself. It appeared to be some game room. There was a pool table in the middle of the room and couches spread around. He frowned as he noticed dark stains on the floor. Blood? There was a jukebox in the corner and it was playing some song from the sixties which he'd heard before but couldn't recall the title of. He walked up to the door hoping to hear what was going on in the room where Claire was locked in. He heard some muffled sounds of yelling but couldn't make out what they were saying. He did not hear Claire. Then, he heard footsteps and a click of the lock and jumped away far from the door just in time before it opened.

The big guy who grabbed Claire before came in with two other vampires and locked the door behind them. They all looked at Jack with a smirk.

"Boss wants to teach you a lesson on what happens when someone messes with his woman." The big guy cracked his knuckles in anticipation coming closer to Jack.

"What's with the stick, boy toy?" another asked.

"Boy toy?" asked Jack watching them warily his staff in both hands ready to be used.

"Put down the stick. It won't do you any good. There's three of us against you, boy toy, the door is locked and we have plenty of time."

Jack backed up now determined that he had to try to fight them. Vampire shmampire. He was the Spirit of Winter. He could take them.

The room was plunged into silence as the song in the jukebox finally stopped. Jack readied himself as they advanced towards him. Suddenly, the big guy's eyes bulged.

"Wait. You hear that?"

The others looked from him to Jack then back to him.

"A heartbeat."


	8. Cat’s out of the bag

The time for pretending was over. Jack didn’t want to waste time for petty fights and decided to go all out. He hit the ground with his staff with the full might of winter and the vampires before him froze. As they struggled to free themselves from their own custom made ice statues, he blasted the door with more icy power and ran right into it with a yell. It shattered at the impact.

Jack did the same to the door where Claire was and barged in. Inside there was a tall vampire with a ponytail who looked at him in shock. Jack's gaze shifted to what the guy was doing. Claire was tied to a chair and had a needle sticking out of her arm. She was drugged unconscious and her head slumped forward. The spirit was blind with rage. He blasted the vampire into the wall where he collapsed knocked out. Jack quickly untied Claire, removed the cursed needle and cradled her in his arms. He ran out of the room and flew through the tunnels.

Jack had to make a few sudden turns into other corridors each time he heard voices trying to put himself as far away from them as he could. To his frustration, he was lost in the maze of tunnels and had no idea which way to go. Claire knew. She escaped from here before. She had to have known the way out but she was out and couldn't guide him. He had to wait for her to wake up before going further underground getting them completely lost.

Jack finally found a place to hide away. It was a hidden ledge above the walkway. He took Claire there and moved them both as far into the shadows as he could. He cradled her in his lap praying that she didn't make any noises so the vampires passing beneath them wouldn't hear. How good was their hearing anyway? Oh, no. They could probably hear his heartbeat again if they got close enough.  
Water steadily dripped nearby disturbing the quiet as the spirit waited. It was hours before Claire finally started waking up. She had a hard time opening her eyes, the effects of the drug not having left her yet.

"Hey there, beautiful," Jack said quietly. "I'm glad you're finally waking up."

* * *

Claire’s mind was in a fog.  
drip  
She tried to open her eyes.  
drip  
They closed back again.  
drip  
She sensed that she was held.  
drip  
But not held forcefully by Oriol.  
drip  
Held carefully, by someone who cared.  
drip  
She tried to open her eyes again.  
drip  
They felt so heavy.  
drip  
And her mind would not process what was happening.  
drip  
Then, she heard another sound.  
drip  
One she knew.  
drip  
A sound which brought her peace.  
drip  
A sound she focused on to clear her mind.  
A beating heart.

Claire was finally able to open her eyes fully and look up. She found herself in Jack’s arms. He was looking at her very concerned and smiled lopsidedly when her eyes finally worked enough to look at his own.

“Welcome back, Claire,” he whispered.

She felt very groggy. Her mind didn’t work right so for the moment she leaned her head on his chest to listen to his steady heartbeat. It felt nice to just lay there in his cool embrace. She could get lost in this comfort and her eyes threatened to close again.

“Claire, are you fully awake yet?” Jack whispered urgently. “We’re not safe yet. I don’t know how to get out of these tunnels.”

She listened to the calming beat of his heart. His words sounded urgent but she didn’t feel ready to face whatever challenge they had to take on. Just a few more moments of this beautiful music.

“Claire.”

“Just one more minute,” she pleaded. 

She felt his silent chuckle. “Okay. I’ll give you a minute to wake up.”

The place was silent and dark. The sound of dripping water faded into the background as only the heartbeat mattered. She felt safe and could stay like that forever. She started noticing more details. Like for example, the position they were in. They were in a dark cramped space. Her back was leaning on Jack’s bent leg and her legs were over his other leg. ‘I’m in his lap?’ she thought feeling heat rise to her cheeks. Obviously, he didn’t mind if that’s the position he put her in so she decided to just let this be. He was supporting her with his arms so she was fully cradled in his embrace. She hadn’t been cuddled like this in a long long time. He was truly a remarkable person… being… whatever he was. Tears swam in her eyes when she realized that he was a much better friend to her than she was to him. She fed on him without permission. What would he do if he found out? She mustn’t lose him. 

Her mind was finally clearing and she remembered what happened before. They found her. How? She didn’t know but they did and they brought her back to his lair. Oriol was furious. He had a whole elaborate plan of how he would bend her will once and for all but he didn’t share all the details yet. The last thing she remembered was seeing a needle in his hand. Oh, no. He drugged her. That’s why she was out. Then, where were they now?

“Jack,” she had to get some information to fully process what their situation was, “where are we? How did you free us?”

“We’re in the tunnels. I don’t know how to get out of here. I was hoping that you would since you’ve escaped from here before,” he whispered back.

She thought about it for a moment. “Yes. I know the tunnels. Let’s go.”

“Great. Wait a moment,” he said disentangling himself from her and quietly jumping down. “Okay. Jump. I’ll catch you.”

Only now she realized that she was sitting on a ledge above the corridor. She jumped and he caught her as promised. “How did you get us up there?”

“I’ve got special skills,” he joked and winked at her.

She rolled her eyes and filed it away as yet another Jack mystery to ask him about later. She grabbed his hand and started walking looking for clues as to which corridor they were in. The place was a maze. 

It didn’t take long for her to find her way to a rarely used exit. Luckily, they did not encounter any guards on their way. She wondered how long she had been asleep. Was it dark yet? If it wasn’t, she had a lot of explaining to do. How would Jack take it now, after he’d seen the worst of her kind? Now, she regretted not telling him earlier that she was a vampire. It was a mistake.

They finally reached the door but it was locked. Her heart sank. They made it all the way to the exit just to be stopped. To her surprise, Jack lingered at the lock for a moment, then, moved her to the side, took a running start and before she could warn him that all locks in the compound were made strong enough that even a vampire wouldn’t be able to break them, he rammed the door with his shoulder.

To her amazement, the lock broke shattering into little pieces, the door swung open and she breathed in the cool night air. She looked at him with amazement as they started to run.

“How are you strong enough to break that door?”

“Ouch,” he pretended to be shot in the heart. “There’s no need to call me a wimp, Claire.”

She glared at him but he just shrugged. 

They soon reached the woods and hastily made their way through the brush trying to put as much distance behind them as they could. She noticed that he wasn’t getting tired despite the fast run which was great. Neither was she. They needed to escape as fast as they could.

After running for a good hour, they slowed down as they were engulfed by a thick fog.

“You are not welcome here,” an ethereal voice said.

* * *

Back at the compound, an alarm blared in the security office. Motion detector was triggered in the east wing exit. Bill looked at the monitor where the video feed showed two figures run into the woods. 

“Gotcha.”

* * *

Jack stopped when he heard the voice. He could feel her magic surrounding them. He didn’t know her but knew what she was. She was a nature spirit and he had just encroached on her territory. This could get ugly quick if she got the wrong idea so he had to be careful to not piss her off.

“Hello,” he said to the fog trying to sound confident. “We request a safe passage.”

Claire looked at him completely lost. “What’s going on, Jack? Who did we just hear?”

He waited. Not all nature spirits were able to talk. Some were so lost to their element, they no longer possessed the ability but this one obviously was able to communicate, so he waited patiently trying to look as non-threatening as he could.

“We mean no harm. We are just passing through. We will leave your domain unscathed.”

“Will you now, Winter?” the ethereal voice said.

Claire was puzzled but thankfully did not say anything else.

The fog intensified right in front of Jack and started to form a shape until it became solid. A beautiful young woman stood a foot in front of him, wearing a full length sleeveless white dress. Her golden wavy hair gently moved even though Wind was not there. 

“Will you, Winter?” she asked again softly, her voice the same but now normal. She raised her hand to his face and he tried his best to not flinch away from her touch. She cupped his cheek and smiled up at him. “You’re cute, you know?”

Jack felt uncomfortable with her proximity. She was still touching his face and he had a strong desire to swat her hand away but he restrained himself. “Let us pass, please,” he asked again.

She removed her hand and moved it to his hair. “Since you asked nicely, I guess I will, Winter.” She pet him as if he was a puppy.

“Actually, it’s Jack,” he sighed in relief. The puppy treatment was embarrassing but if that’s what it took to avoid a fight with another spirit, he put up with it.

“Jack,” she said softly and ran her fingers through his hair over and over again, her mouth slightly open as she was likely enjoying herself.

“Wind won’t like that,” he said quietly. He was uncomfortable but tried his best to give her his signature smile. “She gets pretty jealous, you know?”

Her expression changed to anger and he wondered if he had made a mistake. 

“Wind has no business here.” Then, her look changed to a mischievous one as she smiled. “Maybe it’s actually better. Let her get jealous. Come,” she said turning around and leading them away. “I am Mist.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Mist. Thank you for your hospitality.”

Claire looked at him bewildered, a million questions in her eyes.

“Let’s just go with it. You don’t want to piss her off. I don’t know what she might be capable of,” he whispered in her ear and followed Mist.

“She came out of nowhere. She’s basically floating instead of walking and her hair creeps me out,” Claire whispered back following him. “What is she?”

He sighed, there was no escaping this. “She’s a nature spirit.”

Claire looked at him not satisfied with his answer at all but knew better to not press the issue further.

Mist led them to a clearing with three large rocks placed close to each other. “Will you stay for a moment? I haven’t had a company in a while,” she said smiling at them. She sat gracefully on a white rock putting her hands in her lap and gestured for them to sit on the others.

Jack groaned internally, ‘We don’t have time for this,’ but knew he would have to give her at least a moment.

“Just a short while,” he responded sitting down next to her. “We are rather in a rush.”

Claire sat down as well and Mist beamed at them. They sat there in quiet, fidgeting their fingers and Mist just smiled at them continuously. She obviously hadn’t had much practice in keeping a conversation so he decided to start.

“I was impressed by the trick you did there when you turned from a fog to a solid form.” He was aware that Claire was looking at him funny but he ignored it. It was time he told her who he was anyway. He wasn’t going to pretend anymore. Let’s just get through one obstacle at a time.

“You were?” Mist was delighted. “I’ve learned it a long long time ago from Rain. Oh, do you mean, you can’t do that?”

He smiled at her embarrassed reminded yet again that he was a baby spirit in so many ways. “I wouldn’t even know how to attempt that. Would you mind explaining how you learned it?”

She smiled at him happy that she impressed him. “Well, think of what your strongest element is. You, being Winter, you must have many but one must be more prominent than others. One that makes up what you are.”

He nodded at her. He had a hunch what element that was.

“Then, turn into that element,” she finished clearly satisfied with her explanation.

Jack frowned. He needed more details. “But… but how? I can create it but how would I turn myself into it?”

She giggled. “Winter, you’re silly. I mean, Jack.” She clapped her hands in amusement. “Why, by giving yourself over to it, of course.”

She continued giggling and Jack faked a smile. He didn’t want to appear ungrateful but her explanation really wasn’t helping. Next to him, Claire stared at him wide-eyed. She might not have known what he was just yet, but she was suspecting something.

“Oh, and they’re finally here,” Mist exploded into more giggles.

Jack narrowed his eyes at her. “Who?”

“Silly Winter. The people who were chasing you.”

Claire shot up from her rock and exploded, “What? You knew they were coming this whole time? Why didn’t you say something?”

Mist looked confused, then tilted her head. “You didn’t ask,” her voice innocent.

Jack sighed. He should have figured. Mist was one of those old nature spirits who were nearly devoid of all humanity. She failed to grasp the concepts which were outside of her element. He couldn’t even get angry at her for it. He only grew sad imagining that this was his future. Once, he too would be so removed from humanity that he would no longer understand the needs of others. Empathy or compassion were useless to a nature spirit. 

He could hear the sounds of the vampires pursuing them so he got up. “I bid you farewell, Mist. It’s time for us to go.”

Mist smiled at him and dissolved into a fog once again which quickly dispersed in the woods.

Claire looked at him and grabbed his hand pulling him away. “We have to run, now.”

“No,” he said determined. “We are not getting captured again.”

She looked at him ready to argue but he just pulled her in closer, put her arms around his neck, grabbed her by the waist with one arm holding his staff with the other. 

“Do you trust me?”

She stammered, “Ah… I guess so.”

He chuckled, “I’ll take that as a yes. Hold on.”

Just as the vampires ran out into the clearing, the Spirit of Winter asked Wind for a lift and flew away with his friend in tow.

* * *

Claire loved flying. 

When Jack first took to the air, she yelped grabbing him tight until he pointed out that she was choking him. She was terrified. Of all the things she could have imagined Jack capable of, flying was definitely not on the list. 

She was still clutching close to him but the initial fear was replaced by joy. Flying was a unique experience, an unimaginable freedom. Jack was fully smiling, his hair dancing in the wind. Soaring in the sky looked as easy for him as walking. She giggled as she remembered him strolling on a fence. Was there anything that was not easy for him? Maybe he was smiling because he was no longer hiding who he was? Or maybe he was amused by her reaction? Claire had to give him that. She was impressed.

“So, are you finally going to tell me what you are?”

“Jack Frost, Spirit of Winter at your service,” he said smugly obviously waiting for her to ask that question.

She gaped as puzzle pieces started to fall into place. His cold blood. Miraculous escapes. Mist calling him Winter repeatedly. Wow. She was not expecting that type of answer.

“And the staff?” She was still curious.

“It helps me focus my powers. They’re a bit out of control without it.”

She was thinking for a while trying to make sense of it all when he interrupted her, “So, are you or are you not freaked out yet?”

“I’m not,” she responded honestly. “You’re still Jack, aren’t you?”

He laughed, “Exactly.”

Jack brought her to some quaint town and landed near a small pond in the park. He sat at the edge of the pond and motioned for her to sit next to him.

“Ask. I know you have questions,” he encouraged.

Claire thought for a moment. “You said you’re the Spirit of Winter. Is that the same as what Mist was?”

“Yes and no,” he answered rubbing his neck. “Yes, I’m a nature spirit. No, uhh…” he tried to gather his thoughts. “I’m not exactly the same as the other nature spirits I’ve met so far.” He stared at the calm surface of the pond before him. “I’m relatively young compared to a lot of them and I think that’s where a lot of the difference comes from.” He frowned lost in thoughts he wouldn’t share. But then he shook his head and smiled again looking back at her. “But I’m more than just a winter spirit. I’m also a Guardian.”

She looked at him quizzically.

“I’m the Guardian of Fun.”

Now, she was completely lost. Seeing her confused expression he continued.

“Here, look at this and tell me what you feel.” Then, he opened his palm up. A glowing snowflake appeared hovering above it and he made a motion with his hand to send the snowflake towards her. Before she could react, it landed on her nose.

As it melted, her mind cleared from all worries she had been harboring for years. She smiled, suddenly ready to do something, anything… something fun.

She laughed at the feeling and he smiled back at her. “There’s that smile. I knew you had it in you.”

Claire had a small fit of giggles and got up looking for something to do.

“Do you like to skate?” he asked getting up with her. She nodded.

She watched surprised as he walked towards the pond. Just when she thought he was going to submerge his foot in, the water frosted over under his foot transforming into solid ice. He walked a few steps, looked back at her and then placed his staff down unto the little patch of ice he created. Upon impact, the frost spread through the entire pond and it cracked as the surface turned into ice. She approached the pond with wonder and then looked from the ice to him and back down.

“It’s okay. It’s safe. Come here,” he encouraged.

She walked unto the ice towards him. When she was just a few feet away, she slipped and was going to fall on her butt hard but Jack was suddenly there catching her in his arms. When she was finally steady, he put her hand in his and pushed himself away pulling her behind him. He glided through the ice easily, as if he had skates on. The wind whipped her hair behind her and she laughed. 

‘Fun,’ she thought finally understanding the magic he used on her.

They played on the ice for a while laughing in a carefree gliding dance but her smile wavered when she realized that the night was coming to an end. Time to find shelter, again.

* * *

Jack flew her over to a hotel in the little town they were in and they went inside to get a room. She paid for it and narrowed her eyes as yet again the receptionist ignored Jack’s strange appearance. 

“Do you use glamour or something to not draw attention to yourself?” she finally asked as they were walking up the stairs.

“Ah, no.” He rubbed his neck. “I… Well, I’m invisible. You’re one of the very few people who can see me.”

They went inside the room, Claire closed all the blinds and sat down on the couch. She was still not over the ‘invisible’ detail he told her. Finally, she made an attempt to ask what was on her mind, “Do you mean, you’re… Well, you’re a spirit…” She had a hard time getting the question right.

He sat down next to her and encouraged, “Go ahead. Ask.”

“When you say you’re a spirit, do you mean like… like a ghost?” She looked at him in horror.

Jack sighed and leaned his back on the couch. “I was human once. Then, I died and was reborn as a spirit. In the beginning, I thought I was a ghost because no one could see or hear me. In fact, people would just walk through me.” He winced at the thought, “It’s unpleasant. I’ve learned to avoid getting walked through. But now, knowing what I know, I know I’m not a ghost. I’m not dead. I definitely feel alive… Although, I am invisible. To most.”

Claire moved closer to sit right next to him, their shoulders touching. “You don’t feel dead to me either. And I’m glad you’re not invisible to me.” She leaned her head on his shoulder feeling the sleepiness brought on by the rising sun.

“I’m glad too,” he said quietly leaning his head on hers.

They sat there in quiet for a few minutes until she noticed that his breathing changed. He fell asleep. ‘How sweet,’ she thought with a smile. It was a long night and he was obviously exhausted. She stayed there for a while listening to his breathing and then looked up at his face. He looked so peaceful. 

‘My Jack,’ she thought, warmth spreading through her at the sentiment. 

Involuntarily, her gaze shifted from his face to his neck and she saw a faint outline of his veins. Thirst suddenly hit her making her fangs elongate preparing to strike. 

‘No. I can’t,’ she pleaded with herself but couldn’t rip her eyes away from his neck. She fought the thirst but it won and she sank her fangs in the cool skin with a feral snarl.

* * *

Jack woke up startled. What was happening? For a moment, he felt a pain at his neck. It disappeared replaced with a wave of sleepiness but it all felt wrong. He shook himself awake and shoved at the person that was latched onto his neck. To his horror, it was Claire, her fangs protruding out. She looked at him in shock and he watched as blood turned into frost on her lips.

* * *

“You’re a vampire? YOU’RE a VAMPIRE!” He was furious. She never thought such a kind lighthearted soul as his was capable of such rage.

“Jack...” Claire pleaded in a soft voice. “ I’m sorry. I couldn’t control it… I…” Before she could finish her apology he cut her off raising his voice and pacing in the small space.

“Vampire? All this time, I thought… I thought…”

“Please, understand. I don’t tell everyone I meet that I’m a vampire. It’s a big secret. I…”

“So maybe you didn’t have to say it when we had just met. But you could have said it when we encountered the vampires. ‘By the way, Jack. I’m a vampire too and these guys you’ve been protecting me from are actually my peeps.’ If not then, then you could have said it when I told you what I was. ‘By the way, Jack. I’m not human either. Yay. Non-human bonding time,’” he added in a mocking high-pitch voice. “You had plenty of opportunities, Claire. Why didn’t you say anything? Did you really think I wouldn’t…” he trailed off as he rubbed his neck which was itchy again. He stopped and his eyes widened. “This itchiness. It’s from your bite!” 

He became completely still and quiet which sounded deafening after his outburst before. The temperature in the room started to continuously drop and Claire noticed that frost began spreading underneath Jack’s bare feet.

“I’ve felt this itch before,” he said in a cool controlled voice glaring intensely into her eyes, “MORE than once!” She flinched as he yelled that part. “This isn’t the first time you’ve fed from me.” He approached her and now his face was just an inch from her. “Is it?” She could feel cold emanating from his body as frost spread uncontrollably through the whole room covering each surface. Her hitched breath was visible which was a rare encounter for a vampire. He was downright scary.

“Well…” Claire’s lip trembled. “I didn’t know how you’d react and… You… you were pretending too.”

“STOP IT!” He was still an inch away from her so she felt the power of his words with even more force than she heard it. “You could have told me what you were right from the start. You must have known from the very beginning that I wasn’t human. I might not be a blood expert but I’m pretty sure my blood doesn’t taste like a human’s. How do I know that? Because it turns into frost when it leaves my body. I hope I gave you a maaassive brain freeze!” He smiled but it wasn’t his usual happy or even mischievous smile, and it changed into a look of disgust. “I trusted you. I protected you and you what? You just thought to use me like a bloody vending machine?”

She stood there looking into his eyes pleadingly unsure of what she could say to make it better, to save the situation. She messed up, big time, but she had to do something, say something. And yet words failed her. She begged him with her eyes her lips trembling. “I… Jack, I…”

He closed his eyes for a moment, sighed and said cooly, “I’m done here.” Without looking back at her, he grabbed his staff, jumped out the window and flew away leaving a gust of freezing wind behind.

Claire wanted to run after him ready to scream his name and do whatever it took to earn his forgiveness but stopped in her tracks looking out the now open window. The sun was high up in the sky. She was trapped.


	9. I am Winter

Jack flew on top of the hotel building landing on the roof. He couldn’t believe what had just happened. He leaned on his staff for support and tried to control the tremors going through him. How could she? He thought she was his friend. Do friends use each other like that?

Centuries of memories flashed before his eyes. He couldn’t participate in the lives humans led but he got to observe them and witnessed a lot. Friends betrayed friends all the time. Motivations were different from case to case, be it envy, lust or greed, but the result was the same: hurt. That’s all he felt now. Hurt filled his body and overwhelmed his soul. He didn’t want to feel it anymore. 

Snow started swirling around him and frost emanated from under his feet covering the building. He focused on the power of winter calling to him and tried to get lost in it so he wouldn’t feel anymore. As the snow intensified, his thoughts started clearing and he let Winter possess him. 

Hours passed as the spirit stood there on top of the building letting the blizzard develop to its fullest potential. Night came and he saw a group of black figures come out of the hotel dragging screaming Claire with them. She saw the storm and looked up noticing him on top of the roof but he felt nothing. They shoved her into a van and Jack didn’t lift a finger. He was Winter, nothing more. He took to the skies and let the storm take him over.

* * *

North was worried. It had been three days. A massive blizzard was moving across multiple states making people panic and meteorologists scratch their heads as it's appearance so early in the year and strange trajectory defied all their expertise. Considering that the blizzard began in Burgess, it was clear what happened. Jack. Something happened to Jack. He had never caused a blizzard this dangerous before so something had to be wrong. He needed help.

North had been trying to track down the young spirit with his magic snow globe but the youngster moved too fast, too unpredictable, staying in the air most of the time. North was rather surprised. He didn't know Jack had this much power, or that he could use it for this long without a break but there he was, exceeding all expectations. It taught North a good lesson to not underestimate the youngest Guardian again.

North tried the snow globe again and jumped up with excitement seeing in it that Jack had sat down. Maybe finally he was tired. There was no time to waste. He sent a group of yetis to retrieve the young spirit. They finally returned throwing the screaming brown sack through the portal. North came up close expectantly with Sandy by his side. They were going to fix whatever was wrong.

Jack untangled himself out of the sack, got up and looked at both of them with an icy glare North had never seen before.

"Seriously? The sack again? You know how I hate the sack," Jack said cooly and looked from North to Sandy, his staff in both hands in a defensive position.

The atmosphere in the room was uneasy and North noticed that slowly but uncontrollably frost started to spread under Jack's feet. He rubbed his hands and smiled at the young Guardian hoping to diffuse the tension.

"Ah, forgive us. You're hard to catch," he said in his thick accent and laughed.

Jack's glare didn't waver. "What do you want?" he said accusingly. The frost continued to spread through the room, now already reaching the ceiling.

"Relax, Jack. We haven't seen you in a while. Let's have tea."

Sandy gave two thumbs up, nodded fervently and a golden image of a steaming hot teacup appeared above his head. North motioned for Jack to sit down but the young spirit stayed in the same position.

"Come, Jack," North came closer ready to grab him and put him in the armchair by force.

"You can stop calling me Jack," the young Guardian said to them both. "I am Winter. Nothing more."

North stopped in his tracks eyes wide. This wasn't good. Jack was looking at him like he was prepared to attack if taken by force, his icy blue eyes looking right into his own exuding raw power. North dropped the forced smile. "We want to help you, Jack," he said softly careful to not provoke the young spirit.

"Winter does not need help," Jack said cooly, then, he dropped his defensive stance and walked over to the window ready to fly out. Before he could open the window though, Sandy threw a golden ball of dream sand at him and he collapsed to the floor.

Claire was tied to a chair again. She couldn't tell how long she had been there but based off of how thirsty and tired she was, definitely more than a day. Was this the retribution for trying to escape Oriol? It wasn't a very imaginative punishment but it was effective enough.

Speaking of the devil, he had just walked in carrying a black duffel bag. He sauntered in smug as always, his hair in a ponytail. He thought that the ponytail was sexy. She rolled her eyes. There was nothing sexy about dirty hair. Oriol was old, born in times when men didn't bathe much. Even though modern times had come, Oriol never thought it necessary to change. In fact, he thought it made him smell manly. As if his personality wasn't disgusting enough.

"Claire, my sweet Claire," he drawled approaching her. "Here you are again." His smile instantly turned into a sneer as he pointed a dagger at her. "Do you have any idea how much embarrassment you've caused me?"

He walked up to her and caressed her cheek. "First, you run away and you're found in a MOTEL," he spat, "with some warlock BOY TOY!" He slapped her hard with the same palm that had just caressed her and she tried her hardest to not whimper. He leaned in so his breath smelling strongly of fresh blood was right up her face. "Yeah, you thought we wouldn't figure it out? He gave himself away when he blasted the guys. And then he flew away!" He laughed maniacally. "Where did you find him? I need me a flying warlock. That could come in useful. Or did you have him all along?" He caressed her swollen cheek and sang, "Forbidden love."

He straightened up and walked over to the bag he carried in with him rummaging through it. "Well, it doesn't matter. He isn't here now, now is he?"

Claire held back her tears remembering why Jack wasn't there. She did that. She betrayed him and he was never going to forgive her. She was all alone.

"So, there I am sitting in my bedroom wondering what am I going to do with you. You keep running away. You never obey. Are you even worth all the trouble you cost me? I made you." He turned back to her pointing a finger at her with a threat. "I gave you immortality, home, riches. By my side, you could have power and anything you wanted. Look at you. You're so pathetic with your attempts to run away, making the same mistake TWICE," he chuckled.

Finally, she decided to join the conversation. "So, are you going to tell me how you found me both times? I'm curious."

He laughed again. "Curious and stupid. You used your credit card, you stupid woman!"

Claire's face fell and she closed her eyes in defeat. He was right. That was a stupid thing to do. Maybe that was the answer to the question of why her luck was always so treacherous. Maybe she was turned into a vampire against her will because she was stupid. Maybe she was stuck with Oriol for a sire because she was stupid. She was too stupid to deserve good things in life. Too stupid to deserve Jack.

"So, tell me, stupid woman. Why do you keep denying your place by my side?"

She looked him straight in the eyes and said quietly, "I didn't want to become like you."

"Stupid again!" he jumped up with excitement. "You. Are. A. Vampire. Stop denying that. Well, it's obvious that you're too stupid to figure that out so I'm going to help you. This is your last chance, Claire. You don't want to know what will happen if you fail me again."

He walked up to her with a needle in his hand.

* * *

Sandy entered Jack's mind and walked over to the spirit sleeping in the blank room. Jack awoke and got up staring daggers at him.

"Let me out," he said coolly, no emotion on his face.

"I only want to talk," Sandy said. He liked entering dreams. He so rarely got to speak properly. It was frustrating to not be understood and dreams were a way to overcome the barrier of communication.

"Let me out," Jack said again, with no change of emotion.

"What happened?"

"Let. Me. Out," Jack said slowly nearly with a growl. Ah, there's emotion. We're getting somewhere.

"You'll be asleep for a while. You might as well talk to me." He smiled at the young spirit. "Come on, I rarely get to talk. Humor me."

Jack shook his head. "I have nothing to say."

Sandy frowned and tried a different approach. "Would you mind explaining why you don't want to be called Jack anymore?"

"I am Winter," Jack answered cooly. "Nothing more."

"If you are Winter, what happened to Jack? Where is he?" Sandy raised one eyebrow.

"Jack didn't want to be any more so he isn't."

Sandy went up closer to him, sat down and patted the ground inviting the young spirit to join. After a moment of hesitation, Jack sat down cross-legged in front of Sandy staring at him blankly.

"Let me out," he repeated.

"I will let you out but only after our talk."

Jack glared at him saying nothing.

"Tell me. What happened to Jack that he didn't want to be anymore?"

The young spirit closed his eyes for a moment and winced recalling something. Then, he opened them and the look in his eyes was less cold. "He didn't want to feel anymore so he let Winter take him. Now, there's no Jack, only Winter."

Sandy gasped. This was the worst thing he could have heard. Nature spirits normally didn't care about humanity, they shed it when they're reborn becoming one with the element they control. Jack's refusal to abandon humanity from the very beginning was what made him unique, what made him suited to be a Guardian. Sandy grew sad realizing that he didn't notice, he did not know that Jack was in a pain so great, he had to abandon everything that made him good and special in order to heal. 'I should've paid more attention,' he thought feeling the stab of guilt.

But it hadn't been long yet, only three days. Maybe the situation was not lost. Maybe he could bring humanity back to Jack. He just had to reach him. He looked at the spirit before him. Jack looked calm, maybe even bored, not displaying any emotion. 'If I do this,' Sandy thought, 'I'll bring him whatever pain he was trying to escape. He'll hate me for it.' He sighed wondering if he was making the right decision. Then, he questioned, what would Jack want? If he saw himself like this, would he like that? The answer was simple. No. Jack would not want to lose himself. 'I hope I'm doing the right thing,' Sandy thought.

There was no more time for doubt. Sandy used his power to change the dreamscape from the blank room it was into a memory he'd seen in Jack's mind in the past. A little cottage with a grass roof stood before them. It was a sunny summer day, birds were chirping and the trees gently swayed to the rhythm of the wind.

Jack was still sitting cross-legged and looking around with a detached look. He sighed and looked at Sandy, "That's a low blow, Sandman."

Sandy shrugged, sat down next to him and continued observing the scene as the memory progressed.

Two shapes appeared. Much younger brown-haired Jack was sitting on a wooden bench in front of the house watching a little girl playing in the tall grass. She kept jumping around and giggling until she finally caught something. Her eyes were wide with wonder and she slowly approached her brother cupping her prize in her tiny hands.

"What you got there?" brown-haired Jack asked with a smile.

Instead of answering, she came up close to him and slowly opened her hands to reveal a butterfly slowly batting its wings. Then, the butterfly flew up and landed right on her nose. The girl started to flap her hands up and down excitedly as if she was about to fly off. The brown-haired Jack laughed. The white-haired Jack sitting next to Sandy laughed too. Sandy sighed in relief. Yes, it was a low blow but he knew that Jack's love for his sister would bring him back. It had to be done.

The dream became fuzzy as the memory faded. The scene disappeared and they were back in the blank room. Jack's smile fell. He looked at Sandy heartbroken, tears shimmered in his eyes and his voice broke, "Sandy, I can't remember her name."

Sandy moved closer to his young friend and hugged him. He let the young spirit quietly cry into his shoulder knowing that he had just opened up a dam of emotions and it was going to take a while to recover from them.

Jack let himself be held for a long time. When his breathing finally calmed, he detached himself from Sandy and looked at the ground quietly.

"Are you ready to wake up, yet?" Sandy asked softly.

"Not really," Jack sighed. "Are we ever ready?" he said looking at Sandy with puffy eyes.

"I guess not."

"Thanks for bringing me back," Jack said looking back at the ground.

Sandy sighed with relief. "I knew you would want to be brought back."

"It can happen again," Jack said softly. "It's just a matter of time before Winter takes over again."

"And I will be right here to pull you out again."

Jack looked at him gratefully and nodded. "Okay. I'm ready. Wake me up."

Sandy closed his eyes and willed himself to exit Jack's mind. The young spirit was laying down on the couch and slowly opened his eyes.

North beamed. "Welcome back, Jack!"

Jack slowly sat up and gave North a shy smile. "Hi."

"So, is everything good now? You're feeling like yourself yet?"

Jack nodded and North sighed a breath of relief. Jack looked around the room and after seeing frost covering every inch of the place, he waved his hand to remove it. The frost lifted itself from each surface and disappeared in the air.

"You made quite a mess of a storm out there. People are running scared," North reminded him.

"Yeah. I guess I did."

"Well, you know what you have to do."

Jack finally got up, grabbed his staff and nodded to North and then to Sandy. "Yes. I have to save her," he said and flew out through the window.

North looked at Sandy confused. "What? Who?"


	10. Look ma, no hands

"I adjusted the dose a bit," Oriol said sticking the needle in Claire's arm not at all gently. "I overdid it last time. You went out like a light. It's this new wonder drug I'm experimenting with. It releases inhibitions just enough. I'm going to get insanely rich from it." He giggled maniacally and then sang, "Time for a change of scenery." He walked out of the room and she could hear his sick chuckle echo in the corridor.

Two vampires walked in, untied Claire, grabbed her arms and led her out. She was starting to feel fuzzy from the drug unsure of what it was going to do to her. They led her to a large empty room where she smelled the unmistakable scent of human blood and her fangs elongated. How long had it been since she fed properly? In the corner, there was a built-in cage with three scared humans in it, one frail elderly lady clutching a rosary in her wrinkled hands muttering a prayer, a pretty teenage girl covering her face with her hands refusing to look, and a chubby guy with glasses sweating profusely. They had fresh cuts and bruises on them. Claire gasped in horror as she understood what Oriol's plan was.

The guards opened the cage and the humans cowered in the corner whimpering. They pushed Claire inside and locked the door.

* * *

Jack flew toward the vampire compound as fast as he could. No, he wasn't over what Claire had done. He didn't know if he ever would get over a betrayal like that but he still considered her a friend and she was in trouble. You didn't abandon your friends when they needed you the most just because you were angry at them. He put his feelings aside so he could do what was right.

He got there in a record time and scanned the surrounding grounds from the air. It was daytime so he was surprised that there were people walking around. He deduced that vampires didn't like sunlight just like the folklore said. He only had to think of Claire for proof, she always slept during the day and traveled during the night. He shook his head thinking what a fool he was for not noticing this little detail which should have given her away.

He got closer to the entrance and decided to be stealthy. Even if these guards were not vampires, they could be something else. He didn't have a guarantee that he would be invisible. He landed behind a wall and tried to remain hidden in the shadows. Two guards were standing nearby and he overheard their conversation.

"I'm telling you, Adam. I saw it with my own eyes. He could fly!" said one of them while puffing on a cigarette.

The one called Adam shook his head. "I've never heard of magic like that."

"Seriously. Because you, the magnificent warlock, have heard of everything," the other guy said in a mocking tone. "Don't pretend to know all forms of magic."

Adam nodded. "I don't. I am very much aware that there's a lot out there I haven't seen yet."

They stood there in silence for a while. The stench of smoke reached Jack and he asked Wind to direct it elsewhere. 'Warlocks,' he thought. Well, this was interesting. He'd heard of humans who were born with magic but never met any.

"So, what did Bill say about how he got blasted?" asked Adam.

The other guy exhaled a puff of smoke and continued.

"He didn't want to talk at first. Frankly, I think he was embarrassed that a scrawny little boy toy took him down so easily but finally, he said something that the guy froze the entire room including all of them. And then, he just blasted the door and it shattered as if made of ice."

"Hmm," Adam murmured thinking. "Those are some strong freezing spells."

"Yeah."

"The boss said we need to be prepared in case if he decides to come back."

The smoking warlock kicked the ground angrily. "Freezing spells. I don't get paid enough for this shit."

The door opened and someone poked their head out giving a hand signal to Adam.

"That's my cue," Adam said to the smoker, sighed and lowered his voice. "I know what you mean. I'm on guard duty and I have a feeling it will get bloody. These damned bloodsuckers gross me out. One of those days I'm just going to walk out on them." Then, he looked at the other guy with narrowed eyes. "You never heard me say that, though. Understood?"

The other guy chuckled, "Sure thing, Adam."

Adam just nodded and went inside.

The smoker dropped the cigarette butt on the ground and walked away.

Jack thought this was a good chance to get in but there were still guards patrolling the area and he was sure to be spotted. He really didn't want to get into a fight before he even found Claire. What if they did something drastic upon hearing reports that he was there? He couldn't risk it. He had to get in undetected and could fight his way out with Claire in stow.

If only he could turn himself into a fog like Mist did, he could sneak in without a problem. He recalled what she had told him when he asked her how to do that. 'Think of your strongest element and give yourself over to it,' she had instructed. He was pretty sure that the main element that made up who he was was frost. When he bled, his blood turned to frost. Whenever he lost control, frost spread around him. 'Very fitting name you gave me, Manny,' Jack thought. How would he go about giving himself over to it?

He was motivated to give it a try. He relaxed himself trying to calm his mind. He imagined himself slowly sinking down onto the ground becoming frost upon it. To his astonishment, it worked. In only seconds, he was a patch of frost on the ground, fully aware of all surroundings and what his purpose was. It was an incredibly freeing sensation to be free of a body and he reveled in it excited about this new experience but he was on a mission, he could experiment with this ability later.

The next challenge was to move. He attempted to spread his frost to the spot next to him and it worked. He continued this exercise creeping close to the wall to avoid being spotted. He willed himself to fit under the door and made it into the corridor. From there he moved up the wall to the corner of the ceiling hoping that his frost would be less likely noticed up there.

Moving around as a frost was slow, he had to keep producing new frost ahead of him and removing the one behind but it was an effective stealth method. Few guards passed beneath him and still, he went unnoticed. He met a fork in the tunnels and cursed the infernal maze he was back in. While wondering which way to go he had a new idea. He branched off his frost into both corridors and was very glad to find that he had full control of both frost patches, even when they weren't connected anymore. He continued doing this for every fork ahead to spread himself in all directions trying to cover as much ground as he could. He entered all rooms as frost and inspected all tunnels.

He finally found Claire in a large room trapped in a cage with some people. Adam the warlock was sitting on a bench by the wall making an effort to not look at the cage. Time for stealth was over. Jack willed himself to regain his body and sighed when he was able to take a breath.

The warlock nearly fell off his bench startled at the sight of Jack who had just materialized out of nowhere. Jack just gave him a quick lopsided smile and became serious as he looked closer at what was happening in the cage. Claire had her back to the other people inside, her hands gripping the bars, her eyes closed, her body trembling. The other people were crouched in the corner of the cage terrified trying to get as far away from her as they could. Jack understood. They locked Claire in a cage with those people hoping she would lose control and feed on them.

Jack swallowed. He hadn't forgiven her yet for what she did to him but he still believed her to be a good person and it was obvious that she was putting up a fight, she didn't want to attack those people. He needed to protect those innocents and save Claire before she caused a tragedy that cannot be taken back.

"Claire," Jack called her. She looked up and was shocked to find him standing there.

"Jack," she murmured with tears in her eyes but before she could say more the warlock had recovered from the surprise Jack gave him.

"So, you came," Adam said getting up and staring at Jack. "It was a mistake."

Jack nodded to Claire to hang on so he could deal with the warlock.

"You won't get a chance to get out of here for the second time," Adam continued. "You really shouldn't have meddled with the bloodsuckers."

Jack just observed him, his staff in both hands ready for whatever magic the warlock might attempt to throw at him but then he decided that he didn't want to wait.

"Might as well get this over with," he said pointing his staff at Adam and sending a frosty blast at the warlock hoping to knock him out.

To his surprise, the warlock skillfully dodged the blast and immediately made gestures with his hands while muttering something which sent a wave of energy into Jack knocking him to the ground. Jack landed on his back and breathed heavily feeling as if he was just punched in the gut. 'Whoa,' he thought strangely excited, 'magic!'

He lightly jumped right back up and attacked the warlock again.

* * *

Claire watched worried as Jack fought Adam, the most skilled warlock Oriol employed. Why did he come back for her? She was sure that he never wanted to see her again after what she had done. Unfortunately, at that memory, her fangs throbbed again and she moaned. The smell of blood was thick around her and the drugs hadn't left her system yet, clouding her mind, loosening her resolve.

It had been many hours that she was trapped in this cage with the humans struggling to control the thirst that was ravaging her. She was about to lose it right before Jack showed up because she lost hope of being able to avoid attacking these people. Oriol was determined to leave her in the cage for as long as it took to get her to feed.

"Hurry, Jack," she whispered into the cage bars.

Watching Jack fight was a good distraction from her torment but she wasn't holding on all the way. She was right on the verge of turning around and sinking her fangs into the big guy when she was snapped right back to present at the sound of Jack's cry. She watched in horror as his blood pooled on the floor and she screamed in horror.

* * *

Adam smirked at his adversary appreciating the challenge. The young warlock looked just like described, unnaturally white hair, a wooden staff, and bare feet.

"You are skilled at ice spells, I'll give you that, but I've been watching your technique and you are very crippled in other forms of magic. You rely on ice too much. It will be your downfall."

The youth just looked at him, pure confidence in his eyes. "Is that so?"

Warlock then threw a fireball at Jack who was quick to counter it but the youngster didn't notice that the fireball was only a distraction. Adam immediately muttered the spell and threw it at his adversary. 'He won't know what hit him,' he thought slyly.

The trick worked perfectly accurately hitting the youngster in his left hand cutting it clean off. He screamed and fell to the ground clutching his stump. Claire screamed from the cage. Adam felt sorry for the young warlock. He had such potential, it was a shame to waste it.

"Surrender now, boy, and I'll spare your life," Adam said watching the blood drip unto the ground, the severed hand a few feet away.


	11. Since we're showing off

"Surrender now, boy, and I'll spare your life," Adam said watching the blood drip unto the ground, the severed hand a few feet away.

"That hurt." Jack winced from pain but raised himself back up. Blood dripped onto the ground freezing upon impact. His icy blue eyes were piercing holes into Adam's. "I know that my dashing youthful looks are deceiving but I'm older than I look. I stopped being a 'boy' centuries ago." He spat that last part out trying to stay strong through the pain and straightened up composing his face. The look of anguish changed back into a confident smirk. "Since we're showing off…"

Adam was still trying to process the 'centuries' part of the sentence when he saw that the young warlock touched his staff to the still bleeding stump. There was a swirl of snow around it and Jack closed his eyes. Before Adam could wonder at what was happening, the youth opened his eyes and looked at him grinning. The swirl of snow dissipated blowing away in all directions. In its place, there was a hand. Jack closed and opened his fist a few times to test it out while Adam gaped.

"What the…" He was shocked seeing the completely healthy hand. He looked at where the severed hand was and saw it turn white, flatten, and turn into a thin patch of frost on the floor. "I've never heard of any warlock having the power to reattach lost limbs!"

Jack was amused, "War… warlock?" He exploded with laughter leaning on his staff for support. "What made you… what made…" He couldn't say his sentence among the fit of giggles. He rubbed tears of joy out of his eyes and tried to calm himself down. "Oh, this is great." He put his brand new fist to his mouth trying to hold back more giggles. "Your face! I wish I had a camera right now."

Adam was beyond frustrated. This youngster was beyond reason.

Finally, Jack controlled his giggles and let out his breath. "Who said I'm a warlock, magic man?" He looked amused at Adam who narrowed his eyes.

"What are you then?" he spat out getting impatient with the youth for making fun of him.

"What? That's rather rude. I'm not a what." Jack chuckled but seeing that Adam was losing his patience he continued speaking while an extravagant hat made of ice with a large ice feather grew in his hand. "Jack Frost, the one and only, all-powerful immortal Spirit of Winter and the Guardian of Fun, at your service." He finished with a deep theatrical bow, straightened up, put on the ice hat and easily jumped up to sit cross-legged on the tip of his staff maintaining a perfect balance.

Adam's face fell as he just realized how much he miscalculated the situation. "Well… shit."

After a short moment, Jack threw the ice hat at the warlock saying, "Catch." Adam caught the hat and didn't notice the sudden appearance of an ice patch under his feet making him slip, run in place for a moment trying to catch balance and fall on his butt spectacularly. Jack exploded with laughter.

Adam's face grew hot as he realized that he got childishly pranked. The Spirit of Winter walked around him, his expression mischievous but obviously ready to strike again. Adam observed him while still seated on the floor and a sudden realization hit him that he didn't want to fight the spirit, in fact, he was in awe. He'd heard tales of nature spirits and how they are and always have been an essential part of the world gluing elemental magic together. He was fascinated with their folklore but never had a chance to encounter any of them. This was that chance. The circumstances were unfortunate, he wished the spirit didn't think of him as his enemy, but he hoped that he could still recover from it.

"I won't fight you, Jack Frost," he finally said. "Please forgive me for choosing the wrong side."

Jack looked at him surprised at first, and then suspicious, as he continued circling the warlock adjusting his hands on the staff.

"Do you want me to remove myself from here?" Adam asked hoping the spirit would believe his intentions. "Or I could aid you in defeating them," he said pointing at the many vampires and warlocks that had just come through the door.

Jack looked at the newcomers, then back at Adam and narrowed his eyes at him. "I don't trust you to let you leave and definitely not to aid me. Besides, who said I need help?" He thought for a moment and said, "Stay." and threw a gust of freezing wind at Adam which pushed the warlock into the furthest wall. The warlock didn't struggle as ice grew around his ankles and wrists trapping him to the floor.

Adam was content with the situation. The spirit had obviously considered that his intentions were true and the ice trap was just a precaution.

15 vampires and 4 warlocks surrounded the young spirit and he looked at them in a calculating manner, probably planning how to take them all out at the same time. Finally, he slammed his staff into the ground and it was as if a freezing bomb went off, the impact of which knocked most of them down. Adam was far enough from it to not feel the full brunt of that attack but from what he felt he knew that the wave was frigid. The warlocks fell to the ground wrapping their arms around themselves shivering from the cold. The vampires weren't bothered by the cold but just looked agitated, and ran straight at the young spirit.

Adam was concerned at first but instead found himself stunned as he saw Jack suddenly disappear in a dusty cloud of snow. Thick frost generated in the place where he previously stood and started to travel in multiple directions towards the vampires. They looked around confused wondering where he'd gone and then suddenly he was right behind one of them, sending a blast of frost from his staff which hit the vampire straight in the chest and sent him into the wall knocking him out cold. The spirit then disappeared in the same manner as before and instantly reappeared on the opposite side of the room doing the same to a couple of vampires standing close to each other. Jack continued this method to take each one of them out. The vampires were enraged never knowing which side he would come from. They were fast creatures but still, they struggled to catch him as it seemed that he was everywhere.

By the time the last vampire fell, the warlocks recovered and advanced the spirit coming at him together. They fired hexes but before those could reach him, he disappeared in a cloud of snow again. The warlocks looked behind themselves thinking he was going to pull the same trick he did with the vampires to catch them from behind but didn't find him there. Instead, he reappeared right in the same spot where they had fired the hexes at and yelled while pointing the staff at them which sent the largest blast of frost Adam had seen from the spirit so far. lt hit them like a lightning and they collapsed against the wall unconscious.

Jack looked around checking if there were any other threats left, and upon seeing none, he made one unnaturally giant leap towards the cage. He put his hand on the lock, which froze and shattered when he pulled it. Adam couldn't help a, "Wow," from escaping his mouth. Jack looked at him with a smirk and winked, then, looked back at Claire who was coming out of the cage.

Claire looked at Jack with tears in her eyes. "Jack," she said with trembling lips.

"Come here," he encouraged her motioning with his hand. She threw herself at him giving him a tight hug and then separated just as fast and Adam saw the flash of thirst in her eyes he'd seen many times around the bloodsuckers. Yup. She had just almost bit the guy who rescued her. Adam sighed. Vampires were hopeless creatures. How did he ever get mixed up with them?

"Hey, you, Adam, right?" Jack called to him and Adam nodded. "You still want to help?"

"Yes, I do," Adam said excited that the spirit considered it.

Jack looked at the people in the cage and then at Adam. "Get them to safety, far away from this place," he said and then waved his hand towards Adam. The warlock was confused wondering what the gesture meant but then the ice trapping him had dissipated into a blur of tiny snowflakes which spread all around and disappeared into the air. He massaged his wrists which were all red from the cold, got up and slowly approached them. He walked inside the cage to get the cowering humans and felt a moment of panic wondering if the spirit was going to lock him in there. He looked back apprehensively but only found a warm smile on Jack's lips. Claire was standing nearby but keeping her distance, staring at the floor obviously attempting to control her thirst.

The six of them, Jack holding Claire's hand, Adam and the three humans made their way out of the compound. They came across a few more guards on the way and Jack fought them together side by side with Adam. The warlock was amazed at the spirit. He had full control over the frozen elements and he could sense an aura of pure elemental magic surrounding him. But what was most surprising was that he was also a person, a bright young man full of warmth (how ironic) and kindness. One whose smile could enliven any sour mood. Adam felt privileged to have met the Spirit of Winter.

* * *

They were sitting at the edge of Jack's pond on top of a blanket spread over freshly fallen snow. Jack outdid himself in his attempt to show her what a winter spirit does. A beautiful wintery scenery surrounded them, one similar to the ones from her best childhood memories. Jack laid down and the top of his head reached the end of the blanket and Claire's heart made a leap when she noticed how well his hair blended with the snow, both shimmering in the moonlight. He was truly an amazing sight.

"For the record, you did give me a brain freeze," Claire said thankful to have her friend back.

Jack chuckled, "Like a slushie? A bloody slushie?"

They looked at each other amused and exploded with laughter together.

Wind blew a gust at Jack trying to get his attention. He smiled up at the feeling and continued his conversation with Claire.

"You know what? I think you're making Wind jealous."

Claire looked doubtfully. "What does she expect? You deserve to have real friends. She doesn't expect you to have just her for company, does she?"

"I have no idea," Jack chuckled. "It sure would be nice to be able to talk to her normally though."

Claire just smiled. Maybe it was selfish of her but she was glad that she was the only one in Jack's life. She'd hate to have a competition and fight for his attention. And, who knows? Maybe one day he would feel for her what she felt for him. She had an eternity to find out.

The end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How’s it going, my beautiful readers? I hope you enjoyed reading Bloody Brain Freeze as much as I enjoyed writing it. This was my very first fanfiction and it took me only 11 days to write it. Do you think this story is worth it for me to spend the time to rewrite it?
> 
> **Did you like the little teaser at the end?**
> 
> Do you want to see more of this story? If yes, you're in luck. I'm nearly finished with a sequel to it which is called The House of J. It's a romance and Wind is a major player. The story is less vampire and more spirit oriented. Recommended reading from yours truly.
> 
> Read on.  
> Kami out.


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